plasmid

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plasmid A particle found in the cytoplasm of a bacterial cell that carries one or more genes and can replicate itself autonomously. Genetic information on the plasmid is passed from each cell to its daughter cell, and sometimes to neighbouring cells. Plasmids normally remain separate from the chromosome, but some may become integrated into it temporarily and replicated with it incidentally. Plasmids are important in the genes they carry (e.g. they may confer resistance to particular antibiotics to their bacterial hosts).

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